The road to peak interest rates has been longer than expected. But with the Bank of England (BoE) holding rates steady in September, we could finally be there – or at least very close. So if you have cash at your disposal, you may still be wondering what to do with it.
Financial markets still look jumpy and there is much economic uncertainty ahead, so you may feel more comfortable biding their time. If you are going to do this, peak interest rates mean it might be time to lock in attractive savings rates while they are available - and start thinking about how best to deploy funds at the end of that period.
Mark Hicks, head of savings at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.), says that the days of 6 per cent rates on one-year fixed-rate savings accounts are “numbered”. Various offers have been withdrawn after earlier this month National Savings & Investments (NS&I) pulled its ‘best-buy’ bonds, which paid 6.2 per cent, due to high demand. As of 16 October, research firm Moneyfactscompare.co.uk only listed four one-year deals paying 6 per cent or more. “The wall of cash that was going towards NS&I has now moved to the next best products in the market and, with a lot of those names being smaller providers, they are disappearing very fast,” says Hicks.